In the mid-1980s I stayed at a hotel called "New World," in approximately this location. It was on the waterfront promenade, on the south side of Salisbury Road, so it wasn't the present hotel called "New World Millennium." Does anyone know if this is the same hotel that is the Intercontinental today? Thanks for your help.
Wow $50 for the upgrade was a deal. I stayed there in October purely because I had IHG points i wanted to use otherwise Kowloon is not my choice for Hong Kong hotels. I did pay for the overpriced upgrade (as Pat mentioned) to a harbor view room as I can't see the point of being in HKG without that jawdropping view which I never tire of. Bit like the Star Ferry, which is always the first thing I do in HKG while I work out the best way to attack my schedule. The hotel kindly then upgraded me to a massive harbor view suite and frankly I wanted to stay in it for the entire 3 days I was there and never leave. Maybe it was just the comparison coming from European hotels - the space, the view, the luxury were so tangible. I haven't actually stayed at that property since the days when it opened as a Regent and there were one tenth the number of hotels in HKG from which to choose but very happy I did. The service was unbelievable at every level. Not a thing was unthought of and I was sorry to leave as of course I always am leaving Hong Kong.
I think that the hotel is either about to close for a period of time or have a massive renovation in keeping with all the construction in the area which should leave it not just less dated but less physically 'isolated' from its surrounds when the new Avenue of The Stars reopens next year.
And the perfect Hong Kong exit is the relatively new Qantas First Business One World lounge which is stellar. Get there in time for a Neil Perry inspired evening meal and its lights out as soon as wheels up, arriving Australia in time for breakfast.
@Dan T Nelson - it could very well be the same hotel:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InterContinental_Hong_Kong
"The hotel was opened in 1980 as The Regent Hong Kong (Chinese: 麗晶酒店) and it was originally owned and managed by New World Development."
@Dan T. Nelson - "New World" was a Renaissance Marriott hotel.
The lot was empty for a while. They've been building a new hotel on the old site.
https://www.rosewoodhotels.com/en/hong-kong
We recently returned from Hong Kong, though we stayed at the two Hyatt's in HK. I found the free cell phones in the Hyatt's as well. While I also have T-Mobile, their 2G is pretty slow. What we did was tether to the hotel's 4G phone while out in the city.
Did you use the taxi or train?
This hotel is really nice, but a little too far from the subway station if you got bags.
I feel you should be telling us how much you are spending on taxi and etc. Especially in HK.
The buffet is worth it for the waffles alone.
Sunday breakfast buffet has all of the money showing off their exotic cars lined up in front.
The steak house is overpriced ($500+USD for some steaks) but worth trying once as you select your knife and have an assortment of salts to try.
I agree on the views plus the light show through the hotel room window is great.
The buffet is worth it for the waffles alone.
Sunday breakfast buffet has all of the money showing off their exotic cars lined up in front.
The steak house is overpriced ($500+USD for some steaks) but worth trying once as you select your knife and have an assortment of salts to try.
I agree on the views plus the light show through the hotel room window is great.
wow haters are always going to hate.
When the train will cost two people HK$180 and doesn't get you anywhere remotely close to the hotel you are staying. Why not take a taxi when it's only HK$300. So to put it bluntly, the saving would be quite a bit less than US$20.
As for the Intercontinental Hong Kong. As far as I can remember it have been and always will be the ONLY hotel that's right next to the Victoria Harbour. No other hotel would get as close to it as IG. 😉
I recommend the IC Singapore for a great use of your free credit card night. We were there in December for a one night layover and thoroughly enjoyed it. The hotel has recently been refurbished.
@Dan
It was still the New World well into the 90s. Also , the Renaissance (Marriott) at Wanchai was developed by the same company and called New World Harbour View before it became Renaissance.
IC used to be a bit "precious" . Now it's just another nice hotel and is less pretentious.
We have stayed there for a really special occasion and the staff went out of their way to make our stay really, really special. Upon arrival, fresh fruit, champagne and a birthday cake! The staff were extremely friendly and courteous the entire time we were there. But our room seemed even more luxurious that what you had, the bathroom was larger and had green marble everywhere, and the room was classy and rich! Lots of storage space in the closet leading to the bathroom and the bathroom was at least half the size of the room itself! Had a wonderful dinner at Nobu which was wonderful as usual and enjoyed truly exceptional dim sum at Yan Toh Heen. But what was the best was the view, you just can't beat the view. I can't express just how wonderful that particular view is of Hong Kong Island from the Peninsula side. I would return anytime even though there are probably nicer hotels in HK, none have this particular view. Even the Peninsula Hotel doesn't appear to have this view unless you are on the upper floors facing HK Island. Plus the location is great, walking distance to the best giant shopping mall in Hong Kong at Harbor City, just a short walk to the Star Ferry Pier, and a subway station (East Tsim Sha Tsui Station) right across the street. There is also a Japanese Department Store across the street (SOGO) with a grocery store in the basement so you can pick up food and drinks to bring back to your room. While we went everywhere on the Subway, it is difficult to get to the airport using the subway, having to make a couple of transfers and having to walk long distances with your luggage both through stations and on the street so that would not be the easiest option. All in all we had a wonderful time and glad you and Ford did too!
Why on earth would anyone want to know how much Lucky spends on taxis? It really isn't relevant to anything. But to those criticizing the cab decision? How often do you land at an airport late night, with bags, and feel like taking public transit over a comfortable cab that is taking you right to your hotel door? It's a taxi, get over it.
I dont get whats wrong with taking a cab rather than the train. Secondly, we do know that Lucky likes his little luxuries. Its his money, let him spend it the way he wants.
As far as the taxi vs. train thing goes, there were four of us. A taxi was cheaper.
For anyone heading to the IC who is conscious of budget ( if that's not an obvious contradiction), one alternative is the A21 bus @ about 36 HK$ ( stop at Tsim Sha Tsui East, 2 minute walk), the faster option is the train to Kowloon and transfer to one of the shuttle buses( 95 HK?).Taxi kicks in with 2 or more or if with a lot of luggage or after hours.
"back when I was a Royal Ambassador member with InterContinental, while in this case I was returning as “just” an IHG Platinum member." to be honest this is the part which interested me the most. I am wondering - could you do a post about statuses that you let go?
So when do we find out the reason behind this "crazy trip", as you put it in your first installment?
Or are you just crazy and doing trips like this for no reason?
The views and the pool are the only reasons to stay at IC. Rooms are not great and service is pretty poor.
I stayed twice at the Intercontinental Hong Kong. Both times using my Ambassador weekend 2-4-1 coupon. I included the Lounge access - located on the floor above reception with the same harbor views as the restaurant lobby lounge. Lounge was great for breakfast and early evening beverages and snacks (supper). Always wonderful service.
Enjoyed the pool deck and spa (amazing foot massage) even with 90F degrees and 95% humidity. Also visited the clock tower park nearby.
A booked deluxe Harborview room gets Ambassador upgrade to Jr Suite room *16 - see floor layout photo above. 2 windows looking out for 270 degree view. Huge bath with steam shower.
Both trips were for my Birthday and both came with big fruit platter and B-Day cake
Last July I had late check out then off to the cabana at the Wing then 12:30 am flight on my Birthday CX 1st to Frankfurt then several hours at LH 1sT class terminal B4 flight home to Dulles in 1st on B747-8i.
My Birthday lasted 33 hours
@David W
I agree that the taxi is a better option, but just FYI, I stayed here for 10 days during the summer break and there was a metro station literally right outside the gate! There's a little glass structure with an elevator in it, you go down in that, and there's a metro station. However, since it was raining a lot, we were only able to use it once and used Uber the rest of the times. Even though Uber is banned, they still have great service. They sent Tesla Model S / Alphard / S Class for black which was quite nice. Tried the local taxi once and it was terrible in comparison and the taxi drivers (I'm not blaming them, but it's just easier on Uber) didn't speak English while I found most of the Uber drivers to speak at least some amount of English. Availability was great too throughout the city but as you might expect not as good as LA.